Chloé Zhao’s acclaimed film, “Nomadland”, a road drama that is expected to be a big winner, changed its launch plan due to the pandemic.
The film – starring Frances McDormand as a woman who leaves her small town to travel the American West – opens at selected Imax venues on January 29, before opening in traditional and local drive-in cinemas on February 19. On the same day as its broad release in February, “Nomadland” will debut on Hulu.
Searchlight Pictures, Disney’s specialized studio, is distributing the film and plans to open it internationally during the spring (if the pandemic allows) starting March 4.
Prior to its theatrical release, “Nomadland” circulated the festival circuit, winning top prizes at the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival. He also fell on the list of the best of the year for many critics, including Variety’s Peter Debruge. In his criticism, Debruge called the film an “ode to American independence”.
“If road movies have an inherent weakness, it’s the episodic nature of their narratives, but ‘Nomadland’ solves that beautifully, creating a pattern where the path is more circular than linear, and impacting characters return to further enrich the journey of Fern, “he wrote.
Based on the book of the same name by Jessica Bruder, the film takes place after the economic collapse of a business town in rural Nevada, with McDormand’s character Fern, exploring life outside conventional society as a modern nomad. She lost everything in the Great Recession and seeks the wisdom and hospitality of real-life nomads in the United States. David Strathairn co-stars with real-life nomads Linda May, Charlene Swankie and Bob Wells.
“Nomadland” is Zhao’s third feature film, having previously directed “Songs My Brothers Taught Me” in 2015 and “The Rider” in 2017. Next, she will direct Marvel’s “Eternals”, which opens in theaters in 2021.